Scary games

Here’s the lowdown on the bomb scares from Metro Manila to Mindanao: a group calling itself the Indigenous People’s Federal State Army or IPFSA is claiming responsibility for the scares. What sort of creature is the IPFSA? Reports reaching us yesterday cited police sources who quoted the military in shedding light on the shadowy group.

The IPFSA is supposed to be headed by a Mindanao-based guy named Ike de los Reyes, once identified with leaders of the communist urban hit squad Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade. IPFSA members purportedly include Lumads, Muslims and Christians, who reportedly want a federal state for each group. They are said to be fighting for ancestral lands and economic development. IPFSA members are believed to have linked up with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and renegades of the Moro National Liberation Front.

Are you still with me? There’s more: the cops aren’t discounting the possibility that the bomb scares are yet another chapter in destabilization moves launched by anti-administration political groups.

That’s practically everyone and no one. In short, dear folks, law enforcers don’t have the faintest idea who’s behind the bomb scares.

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That’s probably better than having cops themselves planting the bombs, then feigning ignorance about the culprits. That sort of speculation is inevitable in this rumor-mad town, especially because the rifle grenades, mortars and bombs found in Metro Manila, General Santos City and Cotabato in the past few days were clearly not meant to explode and do harm.

The MILF, through spokesman Eid Kabalu, and the NPA, through Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, have already denied involvement in the bomb scares. I tend to believe them. The NPA usually owns up quickly to its attacks, and its bombs, such as those that hit the headquarters of oil companies in Makati, explode. Neither is the MILF known for planting duds. The last major attack linked to the group in Metro Manila, which the group is denying, was the one on Dec. 30, 2000 on the Light Rail Transit train in Blumentritt, which left 19 commuters dead.

Observers have pointed out that the bomb parts used in the recent scares are those normally found in the military’s arsenal. That’s not really saying much; in this country, anyone can get his hands on government-issued weapons, from the lowest caliber pistol to machine guns and grenade launchers. Chemicals and other components for making bombs can be easily obtained.

Meanwhile, the head of the MNLF’s Islamic Conference Command – whatever that is – said the IPFSA may be composed of fake tribal leaders exploiting the plight of cultural communities. Whoever those fake tribal leaders are, they either have very good contacts to get their hands on those bomb parts, or they’ve had intensive training in explosives to know which parts to leave off so a bomb won’t detonate.

For comic relief, there’s National Security Adviser Roilo Golez assuring IPFSA members that the government is willing to talk with them.

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We’re grateful that the terrorists (the bombs are meant to terrorize, right?) don’t aim to harm people. But it’s unsettling to hear people of an older generation saying the bomb scares remind them of the Marcos years, when the government itself orchestrated incidents to sow panic.

There are speculations upon speculations: the scares are meant to distract public attention from Joseph Estrada’s antics, or to drum up public support for the ongoing war games between Philippine and American troops in Basilan. But isn’t there enough public support for the war games? Another speculation: the bomb scares are the handiwork of at least one group out to embarrass the leadership of the Philippine National Police.

The culprits will be successful only if the public gets scared. So are you scared? I don’t see the commuters thinning out in the overhead railway systems. All graduation parties are still on. Nothing comes between the Pinoy and the shopping mall. There has been no negative reaction from the stock market. 

Maybe we’ve gotten so used to terrorist threats. Maybe it’s our bahala na attitude – what will be, will be. You have to admire Pinoys when they shrug off terrorist threats and get on with business as usual. Terrorists may score a victory when they kill and maim, but they lose half the battle when people refuse to be terrorized.